Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Can Disney inspire more women to become theme park leaders?
www.themeparkinsider.com: The woman behind Disney's Cars Land has announced that she will be retiring from Walt Disney Imagineering at the end of the year. Kathy Mangum, whose portfolio at WDI also included Disney World's two water parks and The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride at Epcot, currently serves as a Senior Vice President for WDI, with creative oversight of the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris resorts as well as the Disney Cruise Line.
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7 comments:
I love this article, the ending in particular is why I want to be an Imagineer, it almost brought me to tears. But about women in Imagineering there were some very important women from the beginning who created the parks and the classic attractions that are world famous. Alice Davis, Mary Blair, Harriet Burns, and Leota Tombs were amazing artists hand-picked by Walt, for the sole reason that they are amazingly talented. Alice was the costume designer and builder for the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It’s a Small World. Mary Blair was the lead designer on It’s a Small World, her colorful, child-like style is iconic in its whimsicality. Harriet Burns was the first woman hired by Imagineering and worked in the model shop, building the entire half inch scale model for Pirates of the Caribbean. Lastly Leota Tombs left a legacy at Imagineering as her daughter is a higher-up in Imagineering to this day, but more famously she is the face model for Madame Leota, the floating gypsy ball in the Haunted Mansion. The women of imagineering have always had and will continue to have an immense impact on the Disney theme parks.
Reading this article, I was a bit confused about the discrepancy between the title and the actual content of the article. From the title, I felt like there would be more editor opinion, more about what Disney as a company could do in their upper level management. However, in thinking about it, it is inspiring to simply see a bunch of women at higher levels in management. The knowledge that they could go in and move up on their merit and their hard work, as any person should, shows that it is not a strictly prohibitive environment. A full six person panel of all upper level management women hopefully shows others that this can be a place for them too. I just can’t help but wonder how representative this actually is of the company’s diversity. The article said the industry is still dominated by men; Disney is a huge company. How many women actually fill the ranks of the park’s management and development teams?
If no one was opened minded, then societal evolution would not exist. The way the world changes and evolves, society evolves within it and with is the world is constantly moving and changing. And if people weren’t brave enough to share their unpopular opinions, then no one would be there to defend the evolution that is meant to happen. While reading this article, I was just very excited to find out all the details of Kathy Mangum and how she created what she did. It's disheartening to know that women still have prejudice against them and that people are hesitant to hire them purely due to the fact that they are of a different gender. But reading this article was really refreshing. It was nice to hear how a women was successful in the theater industry as opposed to being underpaid or abused in many different forms. I feel like this article is a good message motivates people by reassuring them that it is doable. This article made me appreciate Disney more and their motto of open mindedness and its importance along with the importance of diversity. I think that this is a topic that is talked about but not resolved and needs to be fixed.
I clicked on this article originally because I suppose I had never thought about the disparity between men and women imagineers at Disney. And I think there is a lot of opportunities now for women to get into powerful Disney positions. This is because I think in the past the imagineer position has historically been held by men, due to the fact that men were only hired to do so. I think I remember a blip from a Disney documentary in which all of the camera men making these beautiful layered hand animated scenes were all men, and the women who worked for Disney were inkers. Still an important job, but the documentary showed rows and rows of women inking panels that a few select men had put together. I know that is not the time we live in anymore, but you can see how this historic trend may be a challenging one to break. I am glad that it already has been broken so much currently.
Hearing snippets of these women’s journeys to success is inspiring, almost in a way that takes me back to being younger. These female leaders and their stories remind me of being a child again, when I looked up to my role models and took my first steps towards figuring out my life. Their advice of being open minded, taking chances, and following your passions to their furthest extent resonate with me in such a helpful way, as I am at the point in my life where I must make my own path. I admire each of their commitments to being genuine team players who strive to bring happiness into others’ lives. I hope that other people, especially younger ones, see themselves standing where these women are today, and use that inspiration as a vessel to carry themselves to success one day as well. With women running major portions of such a universal company as Disney, we are reminded that the possibilities for growth are endless.
The most interesting part of the article is, just like always, the comments. I read a lot of comments about that it's not about gender of the leader, it is about how they performed. This is always a dangerous zone of thinking on the gender issue, since it focuses on the result and neglects the conditions in reality. But, there's a big BUT for me here - that shouldn't be someone to decide that the result is acceptable or not, it should be all of us equally considered. The gender issue should not be neglected while we are seeking better performance and trying to create a legacy. A commentator said that he wish there will be more inspiration for the female so his three daughters can see Disney as a career option. While another said would it be different if you have not three daughters but three sons. This really tilted me for the truth is Disney have positioned most of their board members, chief designers and management team with male figures. Which is not a problem, BUT, if anyone trying to deny the truth of gender disparity, then we're in serious troubles.
As a woman going into the leadership/ management field, I am constantly inspired and excited about women leading in the entertainment industry (or any industry, for that matter.) I grew up going to Disney and wanting to work there, and one day I am sure I will. These women leading the company are paving the way and making waves, and I hope this is just the beginning. “‘People are understanding that [diversity] drives innovation and it creates change,’ Petersen said. ‘We want our guests to be able to connect to those stories [that we tell] and we want the guests to be able to see themselves in those stories. We want all guests to be able to see themselves in those stories.’” One quote that stood out to me the most was “But sometimes it takes speaking up to elicit valuable input from a team member.'' This was something that was really difficult to learn and do, but is something integral to being a leader in this field.
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